House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., indicated in a letter Tuesday he will not open an investigation in his committee into allegations against President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, will not initiate an investigation into allegations of sexual assault against President Donald Trump, he signaled in a letter Tuesday.

Responding to a Monday letter signed by more than 100 House Democrats asking him to launch an investigation, the South Carolina Republican said he would forward the letter to the Department of Justice.

The office of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday the senator is the victim of a forged court document alleging sexual harassment crimes he did not commit. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Both the completely fabricated Schumer complaint and the authentic Conyers complaint reference “House Rule 23,” which of course would not have applied to Schumer, who was a senator in 2012, the year on the fake complaint document.

Drudge Report publisher Matt Drudge tweeted on Wednesday that “Luther Strange would have won in a landslide,” referring to the former Alabama attorney general who was appointed to fill the seat that Jeff Sessions vacated to become President Donald Trump’s attorney general.

Democrats in Alabama celebrated after former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones pulled off a stunning upset victory and became the first Democrat elected in the state in more than 20 years.

Moore was a heavy favorite in the solidly red state, but as allegations of improper contact with under-age girls swirled around him, Jones crept up in the polls, pulling ahead in some, as Election Day neared.

As 2017 draws to a close, the unpredictable nature of the first year of the Trump administration could very well bleed into next year as the midterm elections heat up. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Lobbyists have — almost — survived a genuinely bonkers year.

The Trump era ushered in a maelstrom of unpredictable policy fights along with scandals that have ripped into K Street. Think it can’t get any stranger? Just wait until campaign season kicks into high gear in 2018.

Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown walks out of the federal courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida, last week after being sentenced to five years in prison on fraud and conspiracy charges. (Bob Mack/Florida Times-Union via AP)